Thank Tony for Spilling the Beans

Tony Hsieh

CEO of Zappos.com, Tony Hsieh is a Harvard graduate and co-founded LinkExchange which was sold to Microsoft in 1999 for $265 million. In 2009, Amazon announced the acquisition of Zappos in a deal valued at approximately $1.2 billion. Tony Hsieh, is the author of Delivering Happiness, a book about his entrepreneurial endeavours.

What time of the day do you work best? Morning? Evening?

Late night.

Do you spend more time in the office or on the go?

Depending on schedule, a mix of both.

What do you love most about what you do?

Going into the office, the culture and the people. The relationships we form at Zappos are true friendships. It's pretty special.

Is there anything you dislike about what you do or about your industry?

You can't ever really take a break from email for a long time.

Do you work in silence? Listen to music?

Silence.

Under what conditions do you best generate ideas?

Through reading or during social interactions. The concept for the Zappos core values was coined at a bar outing after work.

Are business decisions for love or for money?

One of the most rewarding activities for me has been communicating to employees, vendors, and customers about what we are all about at Zappos. I do this primarily through email and public speaking, and it's always great to watch people's reactions as they learn about our core values, company culture, and focus on customer service.

Is the customer (client) always right?

From the beginning, we've always thought that customer service was important. But it wasn't until 2003 that we decided we wanted the Zappos brand to not just be about shoes. Instead, we decided that we wanted the Zappos brand to actually be about the very best customer service and customer experience.

Who did/do you look up to?

I find people that are passionate to be really inspiring. It really doesn't matter what they're actually passionate about, as long as they are truly passionate about it.